Synopsis
Expertise trumps automation fears in record-breaking BPM quarterListen to this article in summarized format
These firms showed contract values climbed 62% year-on-year, as per data from technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG). In comparison, engineering services (ER&D) and IT services ACV were flat and down 7.7%, respectively. This was the BPM segment's best quarter since Q1 of 2022 (ISG reports according to the calendar year).
Industry-specific BPM companies' underlying data on domain-specific business processes are particularly advantageous, experts said, with ISG's data showing that about half of signed deals involved data and analytics services. "For the use cases or activities in which AI infusion has to happen, a deep understanding of how the business process is and what part of it one could start relying on AI, people who have domain knowledge or who are at the forefront of it clearly will have an advantage," said Siddhartha Tipnis, technology lead at Deloitte India. For instance, healthcare focus among EXL Services, Firstsource Solutions or banking and financial services focus in Genpact are expected to be advantages, owing to the deeper domain knowledge in the respective verticals.
"What has changed is what clients are now asking us to do with that foundation," said Balkrishan Kalra, CEO of Genpact, in the post-earnings call earlier this month.
